Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Toothy Trooper

This post is for her grandparents, so they know she did just fine with her teeth extraction: It's finished ~ Hooray!! All 8 teeth that needed to make a rather quick departure from Alyssa's mouth are now gone. She went in for an appointment earlier in the month, expecting them to pull all 7 baby teeth that were left at that time, and they opted to do only one side {3 teeth} that day, which was both a relief and a huge disappointment. She and I both thought it was going to be a horrible, but quick one and done kind of situation, and as it worked out, she had to go back last night for the final four.

Dave took her to the second appointment, and apparently it went a lot smoother than the first. I'm not sure if he was just giving me a hard time, but he seems to think he is the parent that has a calming effect on the girls :-). The difficulties during the first appointment started when I had to take Rebekah into the hall before the major work even began. Rebekah kept asking me through sobs not to let the dentist pull Alyssa's teeth. Her panicked pleas weren't doing anything to calm the already nervous mood in the room, so to the hallway it was. Finally when the actual hard part began, I couldn't take the plier's terrible rubbing sound on Alyssa's teeth. I kept holding and patting her hand, covering my mouth with my other hand maybe to keep from having an outburst of my own and trying to assure her she was fine, at the same time that I had to keep checking on Rebekah's very scared state, so I doubt I was that convincing. At least it's done and Alyssa is now braces ready, once those grown up teeth start growing in...
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This picture was taken over the weekend when she still had one side of molars. She keeps sticking her tongue through the space where her molars should be. I kind of enjoyed that I caught this in a photo because it's a pretty common expression for her lately. It wasn't easy, I have a greater understanding of why we use the expression "it was like pulling teeth..." to describe something that was difficult and no fun at all, but it wasn't as horrible as it could have been, and the best part of all is that it is DONE! She was a trooper, she did little more than whimper when she saw the needles come out to numb her mouth. She was comforted with a McDonald's fruit smoothie and a dinner of jello with lots of whipped cream, so she's doing just fine. And she was really impressed with the huge roots her teeth had! (they're gross and bloody looking, not blog photo appropriate, otherwise I would have posted a pic of them here)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

What Winter in WI. Should Look Like ~

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Snowflake slipping and sliding...
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Scarf smiling...
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Snow clumped hair in our faces...
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Piglet hat wearing, wet mitten and glove adjusting...just some of our favorite things about fun in the snow.

We have not had a lot of snow so far this Winter. There has only been one major snowfall that amounted to 4-5+ inches, much to the dismay of the new snow blower sitting in our garage. The temps have gone up and down so much from there that what we have ended up with is a bunch of patches of slushy ice chunks, instead of actual fluffy snow to play in. You'll notice one of our girls is missing from the pictures and that's because she outgrew her snowpants from last year, and on the day these photos were taken, we had not yet replaced them. Not too many years that you can get away with that until mid-January! She has since picked out a new pair ~ and not worn them outdoors ~ not even once! She has modeled them in the living room a couple of times :-).

We're hoping to change that today. We had a slight dusting of snow last night and we're hoping it's enough for a small little winterfest that is scheduled to go on as planned this afternoon. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Friday, January 27, 2012

The Little Gymnast

I was struggling to come up with a title for this post and then thought of a book, The Little Gymnast, that Emma recently pulled off the shelf, a book that I read back in the late 80's, when I was just beginning to love gymnastics myself...so a title was born :-)

A few routines from Emma's most recent gymnastics meet:


Her floor routine at the end of this video is probably the strongest routine of the day for her. I missed taping her vault because I was taking pictures for her coach at the time, and this was only the cell phone camera, and for some reason it shut off right near the end of her beam routine. So, my video is sub-par. Emma's beam was uncharacteristically wobbly {not even the harder elements either, it was all silly poses that caught her off guard} and she later told me as we watched the video that she was having a hard time concentrating. I am always so proud of how hard she works everyday in practice, and this routine was a tangible opportunity for me to point out to her how that pays off. She recognized she was having an "off day" but was able to hang in there, and without diligent preparation the outcome would have likely been quite different...and she knows that.

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Certainly not the most important, but possibly one of the funnest parts of the meet was that Emma won every event and the all around. She had never done that before in any meet and she was surprised as they kept calling her up there in first place. I think her expression in this photo as she looks off the podium toward her teammates says it all. I love how Alyssa got to give her some of her awards. It was also Emma's first all around above 36 in level 5.

Once with a friend, and once when her coach asked her how she felt about her performance, she was very hesitant to share about how well she had done, she responded on both occasions by just saying the meet was "good," like winning was no big deal. And in a way, I'm glad is wasn't too big of a deal to her. She can't win every meet she enters, so if she's doing gymnastics just for the opportunity to win medals that would be pretty sad. I'm glad she understands and enjoys the work that goes into the sport and that she is a gracious competitor. Most of all, I want her to know just how proud we are of her and how hard she works and know that we celebrate her, whether she comes in 1st, 5th or last.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Lots and Lots of Christmas

What follows is lots and lots of pictures from the girls' Christmas activities.  Such a fun and exciting time of year, full of great memories...

Winter Concert
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Alyssa's middle school band had a concert just a few days before Christmas break.  She was giddy about it the whole week before, telling us she had a big surprise for us at the concert.  She has a terrible time trying to keep a secret and kept alluding to the big surprise and making hints about it all week.  Apparently, her hints were not enough for me because I was caught completely off guard when the curtains opened for the show and it started with Alyssa and her good friend, Martina introducing the band and the numbers they were about to play.  I didn't even have the camera out at the time and missed getting a photo entirely.  But here she is, near the back in the santa hat, playing her horn.

Basteltag ~ Craft Day
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I love helping with Basteltag at the girl's school!  It's a fun afternoon of making Christmas crafts and using so much glue, frosting and other sticky stuff, I often leave with something gross in my hair and caked to my fingers.  The kids are always so excited about it, and the treasures they get to bring home in their shoe box that day!

I offered to help with the pine cone craft, where the kids spread peanut butter on a pine cone and rolled it in bird seed to make a little birdie treat to hang in their yards.  I have a severe tree-nut allergy, but have never had a reaction to peanut butter, in fact Reese's peanut butter cups are one of my favorites!!  Within just a few minutes of starting the project, I could tell I was reacting to something.  Sneezing and runny eyes seemed to be the worst of it,  and I was able to minimize the impact of the reaction by walking away from our table to take pictures elsewhere in the room whenever I wasn't busy with one of the children.  I later talked to my mom about it, telling her I was concerned that my allergies were becoming more sensitive and she told me it was likely the bird seed, not the peanut butter that was bothering me..bird seed often comes mixed with tree-nuts.  I was thankful to know that because the reactions are no fun at all and sometimes downright scary.  It was a great day though, all the kids in Rebekah's class are so sweet!
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Rebekah's sweet, sweet, sweet ginger house.  She was so proud of it, and couldn't wait to eat it!

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On the night that we took Emma and Rebekah to see Alyssa in Junie B. we had a few extra minutes between the time we dropped Alyssa off pre-show and when the theater doors opened.  I drove the girls to see some of the downtown Christmas lights.  They loved the gingerbread baby, Rebekah must have laughed for a good 15 minutes about it's funny diaper.

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After parking at the Marcus we walked through the skywalk, and Emma was really dragging behind us.  I called out to her to keep up and she shouted back to me, "I'll be right there.  I'm doing everything the hard way!"  She wouldn't let her feet touch the ground the whole way down the skywalk.  There was a tiny ledge she was half walking on, half holding herself up on the railing to stay off the floor.  She was joyful the entire way down, like she was conquering something huge.  I had to laugh with her, and at how happy this silly little challenge was making her.  I thought to myself how much better off I'd be if I enjoyed a challenge in that way.  I tend to like things to be easy, and while it's not always fun at the time, sometimes the struggle in something is what makes it good, what lets you know you're doing it right.
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The bouquet we brought Alyssa that night.  She loved the purple and silver glittery additions we made to the daisies.
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The girls were invited by a lady at our church to sing and ring bells in a nursing home a couple of days before Christmas.  A and E sang the song, "Happy Birthday, Jesus" then joined the rest of the kids to play bells.
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Bell ringing requires the most serious attitude and upmost concentration :-)
I joke a little, but I was really proud of them.  They were well outside their comfort zone and I hope they realize how much happiness all the children brought to the nursing home that day.

German Dance
Our reluctant angel...
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In 2010, Rebekah loved her German Dance Christmas Party.  This year, after lining up to dance, and being partnered with a boy instead of her usual partner, Claire ~ she refused to dance.  Just one of those times that she flat out refused to be reasoned with, even after she was told she could dance with Claire.  She finally agreed to sing Christmas Carols, and almost even smiled while she was doing it.  The sweet temperament of a persnickety five year old. 

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Pictures with Santa.  Emma told him she wanted a piglet ~ a real one ~ Santa was speechless. 

Jingle Bus Fun
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We took the girls on the Jingle Bus one night.  It's hard to get photos on the actual bus tour of the city's Christmas lights, but we took these pictures of the girls with the balloon animals they got as we waited for the bus.  Alyssa got a teddy bear riding in an airplane, and Emma got a puppy inside a heart.  I was afraid that Rebekah was going to be disappointed with her tiny mouse after seeing the bigger ones the older girls received, but she loved her little mousie.

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One afternoon, Emma's friend, Alyssa came over to play and practice all the choreography for the Kid's Choir Christmas musical.  They danced and sang up a storm in the living room.  The following day was the performance, and after all their practicing they were ready to go!

The Great Christmas Giveaway...
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The children's Christmas musical at church is one of my most favorite nights of the whole year!  The girls always have such a fun time, and they typically get their practice cd sometime in September, so we always have an early start singing Christmas music.  It's wonderful.
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Kingdom Kid's Choir is for children in 1st to 6th grades, so it is hard to believe, but this was Alyssa's last children's Christmas musical.  Kid's choir is where Alyssa discovered her love for singing, and I am so very thankful for the years she has spent here.

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Emma singing her solo.

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Rebekah was Mary in the preschool program.  She was so excited, and the tiniest bit shy about her role.
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A pretty happy bell ringer, right?  Not so much...this picture was taken during their rehearsal about 15 minutes before the service began.  During the actual song when the children were ringing the bells, she started to cry and reach out towards where I had awkwardly plopped myself down in the pastor's pew because I saw the meltdown approaching.  I thought if she could just see me, she'd somehow make it through the song.  I was wrong, and at the prompting of the people around me, I had to join her on the stage so she could sit in my lap as we finished ringing the bells for that song.  Poor Rebekah though, after rehearsing for the bells (I think she thought the rehearsal was the performance as the sanctuary had already begun to fill up by the time they did the run through) and being in the manger scene, she had enough of the spotlight, and just wanted off the stage.

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On Christmas Eve, our gecko had quite an adventurous day.  We were headed down to my parent's house right after Junie B. and Christmas Eve service, so we had the gecko in tow with us for much of the day.  I was volunteering for Alyssa's performance of Junie B. that day so he had to come inside with us and be stored in the coat room, because he would have never survived for a couple of hours out in the car.  He's too temperature sensitive for that.  I'm sure we were in violation of numerous Marcus Center policies bringing him in...they're not even supposed to allow children under age three (although the very nice and accommodating company manager always makes exceptions to this rule) into the theater, I can't imagine how they feel about having crested geckos in there.  We tucked Banana's carrying case up on a shelf by the rice krispies and no one seemed to notice.

Later for Christmas Eve service, we again had no other option except to bring him into the church.  Banana sat next to Emma the whole time and when a lady asked her what she had in the case and Emma responded, "My pet Gecko," the lady burst into laughter.  The woman said, "Well, I've heard of bringing to friends to church before, but this I've never seen!"
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The day after Christmas we had lunch with some friends who live near Boston, but were in town for Christmas.  It was nice to see all the children pick up conservation and playing with friends they only get see once every couple of years as if they hang out all the time. 
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They were playing outside the restaurant when we finished eating, and as the adults were busy talking, Alyssa led them in an oath that made this promise: "I won't run around like a wild maniac when I get home."  The Kowal children are among the most polite and most well behaved children I know, so I'm sure she was addressing that to herself as much as anyone else in the group :-)  The oath should have been something more along the lines of: "I promise to meet you in Texas at Schlitterbahn one of these summers coming up, where we will have so much water park fun we won't know what to do with ourselves!"  We're looking forward to it, Kowals!
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We spent a good part of the weekend undecorating from Christmas.  Never my favorite thing to do.  Alyssa put these two Eeyore's front and center on the tree this year.  I kept turning them around to see Eeyore's face, and she kept turning them back so their bottoms were the focal point of the tree.  That silly sense of humor.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!!

We had a quiet end to 2011.  The First Stage Children's Theater play of Junie B. Jones that Alyssa was in closed on Dec. 29th, so we enjoyed a couple of relaxing days here at home before school started back up.  With almost no snow {I'm not complaining, although I know the girls would love to have some}, it didn't feel a lot like Christmas break, but as Junie B. took up just about every minute of free time Alyssa had, it was very nice to soak up a few days of a whole lot of nothing :-)

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On New Year's Eve, we had the girls' precious friend, Halle spend the day with us, and they kept busy baking cookies and making shrinky dinks.  Here they are watching in amazement as the shrinky dinks wrinkle, crinkle and bake in the oven.  It was perfect year-end fun! 

On Dec. 30th, we watched Iowa in their bowl game, and while they made a valiant run near the end of the game, things just didn't go their way.  Oh well, it's still good to be a Hawkeye!!
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The sweetest Hawk fans ~ poor little Kamele didn't make it too far into the 2nd quarter before she was out like a light ~ the problem with a 9pm game time.
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During the game, Alyssa was busy reading on the couch next to the excited football fans, and I clicked a surprised looking photo of her.  It was so cute, but she asked me not to post it, so I'm honoring that request by instead posting this self portrait she took on Dave's phone the other day.  And unfortunately, she has not lost any more teeth since that molar on the night of her last dental appointment.  With only 2 days to go, it's not looking too good for her ambition to lose all those teeth on her own.


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The girls made these cute thankful lists near Thanksgiving, and they have been hanging in the kitchen ever since (except Alyssa's whose keeps falling down, and I keep trying to tape it back up, we're very fancy like that, scotch tape is on the walls just about everywhere at our house), I smile every time I see them. So simple and sweet.  With one year just ended and a new year beginning, we have so much to be thankful for!!  I'm grateful.

We always start the new year at what seems like lightening speed because Dave's birthday and our wedding anniversary are always two of the very first days the girls are back in school after break.  It was sad watching their school bus drive off on Tuesday morning, but a very busy week has already brought us a weekend to enjoy.  Welcome 2012 ~ We look forward to new year full of new excitement.